Preview

Ethical Dilemma Executive Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
892 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethical Dilemma Executive Summary
Ethical Dilemma Executive Summary

Any officer who joins a new department has to be faced with the ethical dilemma of what is right and wrong. An officer, who witnesses another officer accepting a bribe, is left with the burden of deliberating if they should report what they witnessed. The rules and regulations for any department come into question when an officer is faced with such situation. Criminal justice personnel are projected to up hold the code of ethics no matter what, but can often be broken up individually by others. “This can result in the chance of ethical questions regarding corruption and unethical behavior has become an escalating task in criminal justice” (Writing, 1999).
Police corruption is frequently seen as an isolated issue unique to officers in large cities or other departments. Denial and refusal to accept the possibility for ethical compromise and corruption at department level stops administrators and officers from developing an in-depth understanding and comprehension of the issues” (Gilmartin & Harris, 1998).

An officer has to decide what measures he or she will take when faced with an ethical dilemma. Any officer who joins a department is sworn in to serve and protect the public and uphold the law. The officer must first speak with the other officer in confidence about the out of place behavior and repeat to him that what he is doing is wrong and unethical. Let him know that in the case that others find out, it can hurt his profession, as well as humiliating the department. In the case that the officer does not care about the warnings he received and keeps accepting bribes, then it is time to let the superiors know about the situation and your worries. Let the supervisor know that you do not want to be judged as a snitch, but are worried about the unethical behavior of an officer in the department. Explain that it is important to avoid any embarrassment upon the department. After the conference with the manager,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the Unit1 branched scenario I am an officer working the midnight shift with my partner. We pull over a vehicle that does not have functioning taillights. My partner has a bad feeling about the driver and asks him to exit the vehicle, searches inside, and finds a handgun concealed under the front seat. My partner then proceeds to arrest the driver and at the station there is a hit on the gun being evidence in a homicide. When confronted with this information, the driver confesses. My partner tells me his going to lie in his report about where the gun was, I try to convince him to be truthful, and I report the incident to my supervisor who informs me that my partner already told him what happened and that I was mistaken about where he found the gun. I will be answering where in this situation there was a loss of ethics and how I would cope with being ostracized by my peers and superiors for doing the right thing.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I agree with the Knapp Commission in organizing a council to research corruption in our law enforcement, alongside other infringement. Subsequently, with the Knapp Commission motivation, it seems that it concentrates on arraigning those law enforcement officers that are sharing in criminal activities. Corruption was at its maximum in the police department. There were officers that were labeled as grass-eater and meat eaters. A grass eater was the least notice because they were involved in taking small bribes from the citizen who was avoiding receiving jail time. On the other hand, a meat eater is an officer that hustles on a regular base with the uses of threat or intimidation. During the investigation the Knapp Commission found officers were involved in such crime as gambling, narcotics, prostitution, construction, receiving payoff to ignore crimes in bars and Sabbath law to name a few (Dempsey & Forst, 1973).…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police corruption has plagued this country for decades. Whether it's done out of need or greed, it affects every community and has tarnished the image of police departments across the country. Community relations are a vital part of police work and without it officers have a hard time doing their job. Corruption causes distrust and prevents officer from getting cooperation from the public. Police corruption has been glorified and documented in several movies throughout the years. It has been shown in old westerns with crooked sheriffs to more recent movies where corruption is seen from the lowest officer to the highest government officials. The reasoning for the corruption varies from character to character, however the end result is usually the same; either the officer pays or those around him do.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Given the importance of the issue in improving police and community relations, many theories have been proposed for curbing the damaging behavior of police. Wilson (1 968), advocating police professionalism, identifies two models for controlling police misconduct: the professional model and the bureaucratic model. The professional model works by ensuring that only the best-trained, most honest candidates are employed as police officers. The bureaucratic model depends on the issuance and enforcement of rules and regulations through close supervision of police officer activities. Lundman (1 980) criticizes professionalism as a control on police misconduct. He suggests that professionalism, by focusing on the individual officer, ignore the social and organizational correlates of misconduct. Furthermore, professionalism is an obstacle to citizen control, since by definition a professional is one who has special knowledge and skills that the average person lacks. Instead, Lundman (1 980) maintains that most police misconduct is a product of organizational deviance, so that what needs to be controlled is not individual behavior, but organizational climates. According to this thesis, police departments may have different rates of citizen complaints. The difference varies with the particular departmental…

    • 11614 Words
    • 47 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is shown that good ethics go a long way in not only the fire department, but even more for the officers who are the face and the ones who help run the department. Hiring or having firefighters of good ethical behavior are an important factor for the department. The officer takes the time to be one that has the best of the ethical behavior, understand the department, and know the way things are supposed to be done. The Assistant Chief in question put a mark not only on the department, but on the role of an officer held at the highest…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ethical considerations could be a concern for law enforcement officers moving forward into the future. Officers obviously have a desire to be ethical and do their job with the utmost morale possible, however the dilemmas they face to catch criminals and remain as ethical as possible is difficult. Off duty behavior, brutality, and corruption are big concerns now and for the future. People who regulate the law often find themselves needing to bend or break the law. More often than not, their fellow law enforcement officers will treat them with a lighter punishment or give no punishment at all because of their association with the governing association (Writing, 2014)…

    • 307 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethical Dilemma Paper

    • 1430 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of the most difficult trials I face in my life are ethical and moral dilemmas. An ethical dilemma is more consistent with my everyday life than a moral dilemma. Ethical dilemma is defined as situations in which there is a choice to be made between two options, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion. Every day I am faced with decisions of right and wrong most of which are easily and correctly dealt with. Sometimes decisions need to be made that are not easy or clear, however they require thought and often prayer.…

    • 1430 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Police corruption seems to be a problem in the United States as well as most of the world. The simplest explanation why corruption exists is that the police officers are human beings and as such are prone to give in to temptation. Another widely held opinion is that the officers don’t get enough pay. No matter what are the reasons police corruption is abuse of authority and power; it is also betraying to the public trust. The researches proved that in socioeconomic disadvantage countries the percentage of corruption is higher. Countries like Zealand, Denmark, Finland and Canada has very few cases of corruption (pg. 176). Then we have countries like Afghanistan, Hungary and Pakistan where the corruption level is very high. According to…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Police Corruption Essay

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to Holloway (2002) corruption can be of two types: internal and external. Internal corruption is a corrupt agreement that can take place among a group of police officers and may involve major changes or decisions of administrative policies that are inappropriate and illegal. Internal politics and unjustified removal of officials, or carrying out behavior within prison situations that may not be completely legal or even releasing prisoners by accepting a bribe given to a group of police officials are all part of internal corruption which accounts for a failure of an entire police system and can involve several policemen or police of one state or region. External means of corruption can be payoffs to police by non-criminal elements like paying of bribes for repeated viola-tions of traffics rules, paying off to police for repeated violation of law as done by prostitutes, narcotics peddlers and burglars; and indirect bribes where special favors are given to police to get special services in turn. Analyzing issues of personal gain, corrupt uses of police professional authority, unjustified use of authority as policemen and inappropriate or improper conduct, Sayed and Bruce (1998) describe in detail are elements that go on to make up…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    3. Perito, D. B. (2011, November). Police Corruption: What Past Scandals Teach Us About Current Challenges. Retrieved from United States Institute of Peace: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/SR%20294.pdf…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nypd Corruption

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Police corruption is a problem that has and will continue to affect us all, whether we are civilian or law enforcement officers. An examination of any newspapers or police-related publications on any given day will have an article about an officer that got busted committing some kind of illegal act. Since its beginnings, many aspects of it have changed, however, a lot of it remains and it seems to just keep growing. Even though being a policeman is one of the most commendable and honorable professions in society, there have been certain instances that demonstrate misconduct and corruption in terms of unethical violence, illegal drug abuse, bribery and unjustified arrests.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police Corruption Analysis

    • 2564 Words
    • 11 Pages

    In our society today, there have been several events, specifically within the last several years, where police corruption has been brought into question. Situations like Ferguson, Missouri have shown our country that we need to question how those in blue behave when handling different cases. In December of 2015, the streaming service Netflix released a ten-part documentary series entitled Making a Murderer. This series follows the story of Steven Avery, and what happened in his life after being jailed for eighteen years for a crime he was later found innocent of. The case took the public by storm, making people question whether police corruption was involved in his case. This documentary opens up an argument that is much broader than a single case: is corruption present across police departments in the United States, and, from…

    • 2564 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Criminal Justice

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Dempsey, J. S., & Forst, L. S. (2013). Police ethics and police deviance. An introduction to policing (7th ed., pp. 242-243). Albany, N.Y.: Delmar.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police Corruption Paper

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Corruption through the ranks of the United States Criminal Justice System is detrimental to the ethics of the justice system as a whole. Police corruption is undoubtedly a complex phenomenon which affects all parties within a society. A majority of officers show great control and use their authority responsibly and for the overall good of the community. However, there are a few officers and departments who have been engrossed by corruption and abuse their authority, highlighting the importance of discussing the unethical behavior that is corruption. Police corruption can generally be defined as law enforcement personnel who used their position and authority for personal gain rather than for the benefit of the public. Corrupt behaviors can include the activities of accepting unauthorized gratuities, bribes, theft, and extortion. Police corruption can occur internally or externally and…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Police Brutality

    • 3484 Words
    • 14 Pages

    References: Caldero, M., & Crank, J. (2011). Police Ethics The Corruption of Noble Cause (Rev. 3rd ed.). Burlington, Ma: Elsevier.…

    • 3484 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics